January | 2014 | Larry A. Smail's Blog

Archive for January, 2014

Allegheny River Ice

Posted in Hikes on January 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Looking north towards East Brady

My friend, Frank “Muskie” Maus and I headed to State Game Lands 105 for a few hours of walking, talking and laughing. We walked along a ridge for a time before dropping down over the side of the hill. We walked farther down the hollow until we reached the Allegheny River.

Recent extremes in temperatures caused much ice to build up along the Allegheny River at the various bends and dams. However, warming temps and rain and caused concerns down stream so to speak. As you can see from the photos most of the ice has broken up and moved out. Ice buildup can be viewed along the shores and high onto the land areas surrounding many camps.

Looking south towards Watersonville, PA.

We visited some old haunts afterwards near Huling’s Run and Lock # 9. We saw, only three deer throughout the morning.

Read Full Post »

My Last day To Dog

Posted in Flintlock Hunting, Misc. Nature on January 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Thursday. January 9th, would be my last day to chase deer around for the flintlock season. The 11th is to be the last day here and I had prior issues and the weatherman keeps talking rain.

However, this morning my cousins, Donnie and Bobby Smail, and a friend Keith Baker, were out in hot pursuit. I spotted a doe laying as I prepared to begin the first morning drive. She was behind me and not in the direction I was to go so I knew she was safe. I shortly spotted another doe in the bed. Both Donnie and Keith saw her, but dense brush did not allow for a shot.

Bobby, and I, on the second drive moved deer. I spotted one feeding along the wood’s edge. A number of deer went into the area but the deer were packed close and Donnie couldn’t shoot for fear of taking two deer.

The rest of the morning proved much different. We went across the road into a clear-cut area. For some reason, deer activity was mostly absent. We pushed three areas out only seeing a few deer. That is why we call this hunting and not getting. The next day may have deer all over the hill’s side.

We quit after noon since Bobby needed to meet a man and I needed to do some things too. Also, I am still having leg issues. I did see several squirrels and a red-tailed hawk.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Read Full Post »

Cold Weather Events

Posted in Flintlock Hunting, Hikes, Uncategorized on January 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Saturday, January 4th, my step-father, Bob and I entered the single digit woodlands in search of flintlock deer. My mother said we were “goofy” as we left the house in our pursuits. Maybe she was right.

We immediately began seeing deer tracks from the night before as we walked along. I felt very confident we would see deer. My task at hand was to be a “dog” attempting to move deer along towards Bob allowing for a good shot. Every push I did moved deer out , but they would be moving too fast or be entangled with brush. Bob never was offered a good shot.

We, both, saw many deer throughout the three hour hunt. I had one deer feeding by me. I stopped the walk and managed a few photos. None of which presented a great photo. I saw some nice long bearded gobblers too. I may need to pursue them come spring.

Any hunts would need to be prolonged after this day. The weather was to turn very frigid with temperatures in the negative readings and high winds. these winds and cold temperatures would be brutal to hunt in.

Robin in a single digit morning.

****************************************************************************************************************

Today, a friend, Larry D. wanted to go for a brief hike to a rock outcropping for some photos. I accepted and off we went to northern Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. We saw a number of deer out feeding as we traveled. The temperatures was still in the single digits, but they were to climb into the low twenty degree range by afternoon. This change in the weather was bringing the deer out to feed.